An analysis of recorded and simulated SH wave reverberations in the
upper mantle beneath the USArray
Abstract
Long-period (T > 10 s) shear-wave reverberations between
the surface and reflecting boundaries below seismic stations are useful
for studying the mantle transition zone (MTZ) but finite-frequency
effects may complicate the interpretation of waveform stacks. Using
waveform data from the USArray and spectral-element method synthetics
for 3-D seismic models, we illustrate that a common-reflection point
(CRP) modeling of layering in the upper mantle must be based on 3-D
reference structures and accurate calculations of reverberation
traveltimes. Our CRP mapping of recorded waveforms places the 410-km and
660-km phase boundaries about 15 km deeper beneath the western US than
beneath the central-eastern US if it is based on the 1-D PREM model. The
apparent east-to-west deepening of the MTZ disappears in the CRP image
if we account for shear-wave velocity variations in the mantle. We also
find that ray theory overpredicts the traveltime delays of the
reverberations if 3-D velocity variations in the mantle are prescribed
by global models S40RTS, SEMUCB-WM1, and TX2015. Undulations of the
410-km and 660-km are underestimated in the analysis when their
wavelengths are smaller than the Fresnel zones of the wave
reverberations in the MTZ.